Update: The MoniQA methods database is now available for free! To register send us an email at moniqa [AT] moniqa [dot] org with your contact details and we will email you your username and password. Please note that your free access is granted for a trial period of 60 days. In return for this free service we would ask you to supply us with any feedback on your experience so that we can further customise our service.
About the MoniQA Methods Database
MoniQA has developed a database of food quality and safety issues and corresponding analytical tools for food production and the supply chain. Via commodity and contaminant searches, the database users gain access to legislative limits and corresponding analytical and sampling methods as well as original legislation. A key component of this fully searchable database is the EU Rapid Alert System (RASFF). Also included are EU provenance issues, a thesaurus of terms and links to sources of reliable information.
The MoniQA database is structured around two key elements: a comprehensive list of contaminants and a comprehensive list of commodities (or matrices) in which these contaminants may pose a food-chain threat. All data sources are linked to these two elements. The basic structure of the database was initially populated by data from the EU’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) and augmented with results from ongoing work within MoniQA. Originally, RASFF data are only published in pdf format, on a weekly basis, which are difficult to search.
Within MoniQA, we have converted the data into a fully searchable and relational database. The search functionality allows users to search RASFF notifications by commodity, contaminant, country of origin and/or reporting countries. The output can be restricted to cover all information entered over the previous 52 weeks (a rolling year) or back to the first issued notifications in May 2003. A wild card search has also been added. Contaminant categories were selected from the broad groupings of contaminants covered by the RASFF, together with all those where current EU legislation governing maximum permissible levels in food or feed exists. The initial list of commodities was based on existing legislation governing pesticide maximum residue levels. The list was extended to cover specific fruits or vegetables where contaminant legislation specifically exists or which occur frequently in the RASFF. In a third step, animal products were included.
Relevant corresponding legislation has also been added to the database. Since the initial launch of the database, results from MoniQA have been added. This includes detection methods for contaminants, methods currently used by MoniQA partners to identify and quantify hazards and/or contaminants, information from a report about reliable sources on food quality and safety challenges, information on national food regimes and a report archive.
To sum up: the unique offer of the MoniQA database is the capacity to search for any commodity and/or contaminant and obtain the complete legislation covering those items, as well as analytical and sampling methods and to combine this with the information from the EU’s Rapid Alert System on Food and Feed (RASFF). All items in the MoniQA database, including the RASFF data, are specifically linked, where possible, to appropriate product and hazard classifications with regard to legislation. The MoniQA database offers a graphical presentation of searches. Also included are EU provenance issues and a thesaurus of terms.
The database is extended and updated continuously. Work is currently in progress to extend the database search capability to Spanish, Portuguese (to cover all of South America) and Chinese and to provide information on contaminant empirical formula for integration into analytical equipment.
Access to MoniQA’s Database is open to the public and free of charge during 2010. To register your free account, please go to www.moniqa.eu/methodsdb.
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